Cf.

(Redirected fromConfer)

This article is about the Latin abbreviation. For other uses, seeCf.

"Confer" redirects here. For the software application, seeCONFER (software). For academic degree conferral, seeGraduation.

The abbreviationcf. (short for eitherLatinconfer orconferatur, both meaning 'compare')^[1] is used in writing to refer the reader to other material to make a comparison with the topic being discussed. Style guides recommend that "cf." be used only to suggest a comparison, and the words "see" or "vide" be used generally to point to a source of information.^[2]^[3] InItalian, the abbreviation "cfr." (confronta, 'confront') is more common than "cf."^[4]

Biological use

edit

Main article:Open nomenclature

In biological naming conventions, cf. is commonly placed between thegenus name and thespecies name to describe a specimen that is hard to identify because of practical difficulties, such as poor preservation. For example, "Barbus cf.holotaenia" indicates that the specimen is in the genusBarbus and believed to beBarbus holotaenia, but the actual species-level identification cannot be certain.^[5]

Cf. can also be used to express a possible identity, or at least a significant resemblance, such as between a newly observed specimen and a knownspecies ortaxon.^[5] Such a usage might suggest a specimen's membership of the same genus or possibly of a shared higher taxon. For example, in the note "Diptera: Tabanidae, cf.Tabanus", the author is confident of the order and family (Diptera:Tabanidae) but can only suggest the genus (Tabanus) and has no information favouring a particular species.^[6]

Numismatic use

edit

Amongnumismatists (coin collector-research specialists), cf. may be used in references on the paper and/or online coin identification information meaning "compare to". It is common for abbreviations of listings in trusted coin catalogues or sales from certain online auctions to be cited when identifying a particular coin. If the specimen in question is not an exact match but comes close to a known source, cf. may be used.^{[citation needed]}

References

edit

^"cf".Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus. Cambridge University Press. n.d. RetrievedOctober 30, 2016.
^"Latin Terms and Abbreviations".The Writing Center at UNC-Chapel Hill. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. n.d. RetrievedOctober 30, 2016.
^"Chicago Manual of Style 15th Ed. Style Sheet"(PDF). Michigan State University Press. p. 6, citingChicago Manual of Style section 16.58. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on December 23, 2015. RetrievedJuly 7, 2016.There is a distinction between see and cf.; use cf. only to mean 'compare' or 'see, by way of comparison'.
^"cf".Vocabolario Treccani.Treccani. Retrieved2024-02-02.
^^a ^bBengtson, Peter."Open Nomenclature"(PDF).Palaeontology. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on April 2, 2015. RetrievedMarch 19, 2015.
^Hartmann, Anne (February 2007)."Field Key for Selected Benthic Invertebrates from the HKH Region"(PDF). Draft Version. RetrievedOctober 30, 2016.